A "journey" involving running in place in the deep end. Quite possibly I've gone off the deep end.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Training log - Week ending 9/04/11

This week was 55 miles of “real running” and 15 “miles” pool running plus 1500m of swimming -- training log is here.

Decent workout week, and definitely a bit stronger than the last few. The ragweed is still sending me for a loop, but hopefully that should end in a few weeks. I had very little issues on Sunday, despite a high pollen count, and I’m wondering if it’s due to my trying quercetin (on top of the Allegra I always take). A few more days will tell.

Apart from that, I also decided to start working with a nutritionist. I’ve always found both long runs and short intervals to be much easier than tempos – I have both speed and endurance, but stamina is my failing. I discussed it with my coach, and he suggested it might be either a nutrition or hydration issue. So, got a recommendation for a sports nutritionist, and I’m going to start logging my food and fluid intake this coming week.

Dailies

Monday: In the morning, upper body strengthwork, 1500m of swimming breathing drills, and 20 minutes of easy pool-running for “2 miles”. Stretching and foam-rolling at night.

Tuesday: In the morning, 9.5 miles on the track in fantastic weather, including a track pyramid workout – 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400, each with half-distance recovery. Splits were 92, 3:02, 4:36, 6:03, 4:29, 2:54, and 82. Followed with 20 minutes pool-running. At night I took a “floor barre” class (basically ballet, but done on a mat rather than standing – it’s a core workout plus flexibility) followed by foam rolling.

Wednesday: 8.5 miles very easy (8:54 pace) on a hilly route, plus drills and strides, followed by upper body strength training. Stretching and foam rolling in the evening.

Thursday: In the morning, 12.5 miles outside, including a tempo on a local bike trail of 6 miles in 42:00 (neat) for 7:00 pace. Splits were 7:20, 7:07, 6:52, 6:56, 7:06, 6:39, which look pretty erratic, but actually match the moderate elevation changes in the trail. I was decently happy with this – not stellar, but I ran it well in control, with no struggling and a steady effort, while avoiding the temptation to race it.

[I usually run tempos on the track with my team on Fridays, but since the weather looked to be less humid on Thursday, I opted to solo this one a day early. I’ll also admit that tempos of more than 5 miles are much easier mentally on a trail than a track.]

Yoga plus foam rolling at night.

Friday: In the morning, 1:25 of easy pool-running with a friend for “8.5 miles.” Pilates session plus foam rolling in evening.

Saturday: In the morning, an easy 8.5 miles outside (8:30 pace). Weight training plus stretching and foam rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday: In the morning, a long progression run of 16 miles. Averaged 8:02 pace for the 16, split as 8:33 pace for the first 7 miles (then water break), then 8:06 for next 3.5, then 7:30 for a mile (a second water break), then 7:18 pace for final 4.5 miles. Pretty happy with this one, given the high humidity. Followed with 25 minutes of cool-down pool-running for “2.5 miles.” In the evening, foam rolling and stretching.

I'll keep y'all informed. I've been meaning to get one anyway -- with my dietary constrictions due to migraines and digestive ills, there's a lot of stuff I don't eat. So, it makes sense to have my diet get a checkover to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Katie -- the Ragweed's been killing me the last few weeks. No congestion due to the Allegra, but the fatigue has been a killer. But, I'm hopeful the quercetin is helping -- it seems to have, so far.

Full slew of race reports here (from my first in June 2007 to 2010) and here (2011).

workouts

(you can click on the link to see the details)

Pool running conversion

I convert my pool-running into “mileage” with this formula:

1)10 minutes “easy” in the pool equals one mile

2)workouts translate by time into mileage, with the recoveries not counting for mileage.For example, I would normally cover half a mile in 3:00 during an interval workout, and 1.5 miles in 10:00 during a tempo.So 8x3:00 at interval effort is 4 miles, and 10 minutes at tempo effort is 1.5 miles.